Kenyir Lake

The Kenyir dam was completed in 1985 for hydroelectric power and flooded about two hundred and sixty square kilometres of forested valley in inland Terengganu - roughly the area of Singapore - drowning the lower ground and leaving the hilltops standing as some three hundred and forty islands. The result is a lake of channels and inlets running back into the Titiwangsa foothills, with dead standing timber in the shallows and forest to the waterline. It is fished heavily for kelah and toman and there is a houseboat trade. Waterfalls run into it from the surrounding hills - Lasir and Saok among them - reached by boat, and there are limestone caves along the shore. Taman Negara's Tanjung Mentong entrance opens off the lake, so it works as a back door into the national park. Elephants and tapir come to the shore.

What you actually see

• 340 islands - hilltops left standing when the valley was flooded in 1985.
• Waterfalls reached by boat - Lasir, Saok and others running into the lake.
• Dead standing timber - the drowned forest still visible in the shallows.
• A back way into Taman Negara - the Tanjung Mentong entrance off the lake.

When to go

February to October; the monsoon closes it. Two days.

Honest expectations

Everything is by boat and hire is arranged at Pengkalan Gawi - there is no shore road round the lake. Water levels vary and expose stumps. The monsoon from November to January makes the lake unusable.

Nearby

Kuala Berang is west; Kuala Terengganu and the coast are east.